France and Japan are planning a very important mission for recovering pieces of Mars moon and bringing them back on Earth. This will be the first time samples, which will be collected from the satellite of a planet that would be brought back to Earth.
According to Phys.org, the head of France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) revealed the mission information in which both the countries will be recovering the Mars moon pieces for bringing them back on earth. This project is termed as Martian Moon Exploration Project. A probe will be launched in the year 2024 destined for Phobos. Phobos is the largest and closest moon of Mars, out of the two moons circling the red planet.
An initial agreement was signed by Paris and Tokyo on Monday. The final decision is yet to be made and it is expected to be made by the end of the year. "It's a very important mission because (besides the Mars Moon) it would be the first time samples from the satellite of a planet would be brought back to Earth," the president of Centre for Space Studies (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall said.
Mars Daily reported that Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is the Japanese partner for the Martian Moon Exploration Project. The mars moon Phobos is slightly egg shaped and is 27 kilometers in diameter if measured from end to end. The analyzing of the composition of Phobos will solve a long time question based on its origin.
There are various theories related to Phobos. One theory says that the mars moon Phobos is just an asteroid, which is being held by the planet's gravitational pull. Another theory states that it is the left over a matter of the planet Mars, which was left while the creation event. It is very much known that the answer to these theories will be solved by the Martian Moon Exploration Project. Landing on Phobos will help in having a clear view of Mars that will be only 6000 kilometers distance.
